South Arkansas Recipes

The big Launch day arrived, and I am happy to report that In Those First Bright Days of Elvis is pleasing my readers, according to Amazon reviews and the emails and calls I am receiving. I couldn’t be more thrilled. Naturally, I thought some people would like the book, but I never dreamed it would be so enthusiastically received, and that people would already be demanding the sequel. Thanks, to all of you subscribers for your support. If anyone feels so inclined, please post a short review on Amazon. Three or four sentences will suffice. If you haven’t posted a review before, just go to Amazon.com, type in the title of the book, In Those First Bright Days of Elvis, and when it comes up, click on it. There you will be able to read the other posts as well as write one yourself. Thanks in advance.

The first draft of Book II is done and I am polishing at this point. Since it will be a while before it comes out, I thought you might enjoy having some Arkansas/Louisiana recipes from my family’s collection to try out while you wait for the next installment in the adventures of Julie Morgan. Let me know what you think of them.

HOT WATER CORNBREAD

Mix corn meal in a bowl with salt and chopped onion. Add boiling water little at a time, stirring until mixture is moist, but not sloppy. Shape mixture into flat cakes and fry in about ½ inch of hot oil (I use peanut or coconut) in a heavy (iron) skillet until deep brown on both sides. Drain on paper towels and serve immediately. This bread goes well with turnip greens, black-eyed peas, roast, meat loaf, fried fish, and all vegetables.